The San Antonio Spurs are 4-1 this season against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Shaquille O'Neal doesn't think OKC will be able to bounce back in the playoffs.
After entering the 2025-26 NBA season with hopes of making the playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs have established that they are well ahead of schedule.
Victor Wembanyama is playing like an MVP candidate, Stephon Castle has broken out as a top-30 player in the league, De'Aaron Fox has remained steady, Keldon Johnson is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, and Dylan Harper has shown flashes that he will become a superstar.
As a team, the Spurs are second in the Western Conference behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC had dominated all season long, although the Spurs have been a thorn in their side. The Spurs are 4-1 this season against the Thunder, beating them with Wemby coming off the bench in two of those games, and once when OKC opted to rest their entire starting five.
Most fans and experts expect the Thunder to kick it up a notch in the playoffs, but Shaquille O'Neal knows what he's seen: that the Spurs are the better team.
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As NBC and Amazon Prime use their new NBA broadcasting rights to celebrate the game, even the beloved Inside the NBA show is facing some backlash. It's clear that the hosts don't really pay attention to all 30 teams, and the gimmicks that made the show popular in the first place are getting stale, especially as other studio crews provide more real, insightful analysis.
Sometimes, an old dog can learn new tricks, and one of the show's stars had a zinger.
"San Antonio will beat OKC in the Western Conference Finals," O'Neal predicted on Inside the NBA. "OKC is going to be number one, they're going to be number two, which means they'll meet in the Western Conference Finals. They take OKC out of their defense because Hartenstein has to play Wemby out on the wing."
The Spurs have already proven that they can match up against OKC, and even against a tighter playoff rotation, the Spurs can match them in terms of talent.
While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might be a better player than anyone the Spurs can boast, Wembanyama is a game-breaker who can destroy any plans. On top of that, De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle are capable of taking over any given game, and the Spurs have just as much depth and talent in their first three players off the bench as the Thunder do.
Shaq booked it: the Spurs will go back to the NBA Finals this season.